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Thunder Bolts: Utah Jazz 96, Oklahoma City Thunder 91

David Moore

Sports Blogger

@rundavidmoore

End of the road for Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s season came to an end Friday night in Utah at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Utah Jazz wrapped up the exciting NBA Western Conference playoff series and took Game 6. Unlike the defeats in Games 3 and 4, the Thunder kept this game close until the end. With 1:08 left, OKC trailed by only three. After a flurry of offensive rebounds and missed shots, the Thunder came away empty handed and were forced to send Donovan Mitchell to the line. With 6.9 seconds remaining, the last grains of sand on the Thunder’s 2017-18 season hourglass fell as Mitchell made both free throws.

Westbrook’s 46 not enough

Keith Allison/Flickr

Russell Westbrook finished his season with a solid 46 points while shooting 42 percent on Friday night, which marked his highest-scoring game in the series. Westbrook, a former MVP, also made headlines after getting into a confrontation with a Jazz fan after the game. While walking to the tunnel, Westbrook was spotted yelling at a heckling fan.

“Here in Utah, a lot of disrespectful, vulgar things are said to the players,” Westbrook said in an ESPN interview after the game. “I think it’s something that needs to be brought up.”

Mitchell leads Jazz to next round

Rookie Donovan Mitchell had his best performance of the series, scoring 38 and shooting 54 percent. Mitchell was forced to play without the help of Ricky Rubio, who left the game seven minutes in after sustaining a left hamstring injury. Mitchell, a rookie, was on fire in the third quarter, when he scored 22 of his 38 with fantastic drives to the basket and deadly, accurate 3-pointers. Mitchell and the Jazz move on the Western Conference semifinals to take on the Houston Rockets on Sunday.